Advani impressed by Hindu influence in Indonesia
July 17th, 2010 - 6:33 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday said he was impressed with the influence of Hinduism on Indonesia - the country with most Muslims in the world.
Back from his recent four-day trip to Indonesia, to attend a World Sindhi Conference, Advani said in his blog that though Hindus made only two percent of Indonesia’s 202.8 million population, it was “impressive” and “surprising” to see the Hindu influence in Indonesia.
He said he was surprised to see Lord Ganesha imprinted on the currency note of Indonesia and said: “In Indonesia, the names of places, of people, and the nomenclature of institutions also give one a clear impression of a benign Sanskrit influence.”
“It certainly pleased me to gather that the official mascot of Military Intelligence in Indonesia is Hanuman. The rationale offered by a local was that it was Hanuman who had been able to trace Sita (who was) kidnapped by Ravana,” he added.
Dwelling extensively on various detailed depictions of characters from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in several parts of the country, Advani said that in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, he was surprised by his driver’s knowledge of the epic Mahabharata when he pointed at a statue and said: “This is a depiction of Ghatotkach of the Mahabharata.”
Advani wrote: “Indeed, even in India very few would be able to identify who Ghatotkach is. And here was the driver of our car knowing full well both Ghatotkach as well as his relationship with Bheema.”
“Indonesia, I must say,” Advani said at the end of his blog, “seemed to know and cherish Ramayana and Mahabharata better than we do.”
- Here Ravana worshipped on Dussehra! - Oct 05, 2011
- Moily's Ramayana weaves current realities into epic - Jul 01, 2010
- Hanuman as narrator in comic book, thanks to a Californian (With Images) - Sep 27, 2009
- When Rama met Hanuman - a short, delightful take (IANS Book Review) - Oct 19, 2011
- Now hear mythological stories on your mobile - Dec 09, 2011
- A town that never burns Ravana effigy - Oct 06, 2011
- Don't see space for myself in Bollywood: Tarsem Singh - Nov 11, 2011
- Arya Babbar turns comic book writer - Sep 23, 2010
- Devotees worship a diamond-bedecked Lord Hanuman at Ayodhya temple - Oct 17, 2009
- On Lord Ram's trail to Sabari Dham (Feature With Images) - Aug 06, 2011
- Childhood fairytales revisited in Indian art - Oct 13, 2011
- Doing voice-over tougher than acting: Manoj Bajpai - Sep 05, 2010
- Two epics come alive in contemporary retelling this summer - Jun 03, 2010
- Varun Gandhi criticizes Pawar, Mayawati over price rise issue - Feb 07, 2010
- Tharoor celebrates 21 years of 'The Great Indian Novel' - Mar 06, 2011
Tags: bharatiya janata party, bjp leader, capital of bali, currency note, day trip, depiction, epic mahabharata, epics, hindu influence, hinduism, hindus, july 17, l k advani, lord ganesha, mascot, military intelligence, nomenclature, ramayana and mahabharata, ravana, sita